Top 4 Essential Uses of Isopropyl Myristate Esters

Isopropyl Myristate (IPM) is an ester that is formed from myristic acid with isopropanol. It is a liquid that is colourless, and as such, Isopropyl Myristate can be used in various applications — ranging from personal care to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. This type of ester is a vegetable based ester. This makes it have less or no odour, which has been produced with the highest standards.

Uses of Isopropyl Myristate

  1.  Used in pharmaceuticals
    Isopropyl Myristate esters are used in perfumes, cosmetics, food additives, for the manufacture of artificial fibers, paints, varnishes, glue. They serve as starting materials in the production of many pharmaceuticals.
  2.  Are used as solvents for paints, varnishes, resins and polymers
    Since they are mixed with many organic substances, they are used as solvents for varnishes and paints. Ethyl formate and ethyl acetate are used as solvents for cellulose varnishes. Vinyl acetate is used for the production of polyvinyl acetate resins, adhesives, and paints.
  3. Used in food and perfume industry
    Isopropyl Myristate esters are used in the food industry to create fruit essences and in the perfumery industry (the manufacture of soaps, perfumes, creams).
  4. Manufacture of plastics and rubbers.
    From waxes, varnishes, greases, impregnating compositions for the waxed paper, and skin are made, they are also part of cosmetic creams and medicinal ointments. When organic synthesis took its first steps, many esters were synthesized and tested by pharmacologists. They became the basis of such drugs as salol, validol, etc. Methyl salicylate was widely used as a locally irritating and analgesic drug, which is now practically supplanted by more effective agents.

Under normal conditions, Isopropyl Myristate can be liquid without color, with a fruity or floral smell, or solid, plastic, usually odorless. The longer the chain of the hydrocarbon radical, the harder the substance. As a result of the hydrolysis reaction, they decompose into alcohol and acid. Hydrolysis of fats in an alkaline environment does not lead to the formation of acid, but soap.

Isopropyl Myristate esters are widespread and contribute highly to human life. They are also used in various fields of production like medicines, paints and varnishes, perfumes, lubricants, polymers, synthetic fibers, and much more.

Classification and Characteristics of Fatty Acids

What are Fatty acids?

These are open-chain monobasic carboxylic acids contained in the form of fats, oils, and waxes of plant and animal origin. Fatty acids, as a rule, contain an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms and can be either saturated or unsaturated. In a broader sense, this term is sometimes used to encompass all acyclic aliphatic carboxylic acids, and occasionally carboxylic acids with various cyclic radicals are also encompassed by this term.

Classification of fatty acids

By the nature of the bond of carbon atoms in the chain, fatty acids are classified into saturated and unsaturated. Saturated contain only single bonds between carbon atoms with no double bonds; monounsaturated contain a double or triple bond. Polyunsaturated contain several bonds. As a rule, bonds have a cis configuration, which gives such molecules additional rigidity. In our bodies, fatty acids do affect how the cells in the membrane are arranged. This helps in determining its fluidity hence influencing how our body functions.

Characteristics of fatty acids

Oils and animal fats comprise building blocks called triglycerides. Fatty acids are the main components of triglycerides. Fatty acids are divided according to their molecular structure.

1. Degree of saturation

One of the characteristics of fatty acids is the degree of saturation. There are saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated fats. The degree of saturation of fatty acid is determined by the number of double bonds between carbon atoms in its molecule. If all bonds in the molecule are single, then the fatty acid is classified as saturated. Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) contain one double bond, while polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) contain two or more double bonds.

Another aspect is the number of carbon atoms in the molecular chain of a fatty acid.

2. Distilled fatty acids

These are fatty acids which are obtained by hydrolyzing oils from plant or animal usually at a higher pressure. Distillation is done, thereby producing a white and soapy product. The products are formed at a high temperature of 25ºC to 55ºC.

Distilled fatty acids vary in the number of carbon atoms in the chain, and also, in the case of unsaturated acids, the number of double and triple bonds differs. Acyclic carboxylic acids, starting with butyric acid, are considered fatty. Fatty acids obtained directly from vegetable oils and animal fats. The number of carbon atoms in natural fatty acids is mostly even, because of biosynthesis with the participation of Acetyl-CoA.

A large group of fatty acids (more than 400 different structures) is found in vegetable seed oils. There is a high percentage of rare fatty acids in the seeds of certain plants. Under indispensable means, those fatty acids can not be synthesized in the body.